Last Sunday Night, SBY Secretly Visited NasDem Tower, Met Surya Paloh, Discussed Coalition?

JAKARTA - The chairman of the Democratic Party's Upper House, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, together with his son, who is also the general chairman of the Democrat Party, Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono, met with the chairman of the NasDem Party, Surya Paloh. This meeting was held behind closed doors on Sunday night, 5 June.

Secretary General of the NasDem Party Johnny G Plate said the meeting between the two figures at NasDem Tower, Gondangdia, Central Jakarta was actually private.

"When they met, they warmly welcomed each other for their respective health conditions, which were still excellent and blessed," said Johnny in a written statement, Monday, June 6.

Not only that, there are a number of things discussed. In addition to discussing global challenges due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the Ukraine-Russia war, Johnny said these two figures also discussed the national political situation.

"Especially ahead of the 2024 Pilleg, Presidential Election, and Simultaneous Pilkada which must be managed with full responsibility in order to run well and be successful," he said.

However, Johnny did not go into detail about the meeting. He only said that the meeting of the two was carried out in an atmosphere full of intimacy.

In fact, the meeting was closed with a dinner together at Cafe NasDem Tower on the 15th floor. There, SBY was treated to a special menu of healthy and savory food and accompanied by music as an entertainer.

"The meeting of national figures and political leaders that can be held in a friendly atmosphere is a form of politeness in Indonesian political culture and is a very good thing for democracy," said Johnny.

Meanwhile, the Head of the Strategic Communications Agency for the Democratic Party DPP, Herzaky Mahendra Putra, said that SBY's presence with AHY to the NasDem Tower was to repay Surya Paloh's visit and friendship in the United States some time ago.

"When Mr. SBY was undergoing treatment for illness at the Mayo Clinic last year. The attention and support given by Mr. Surya Paloh at that time, of course, was greatly appreciated by Mr. SBY," he said.

"Let's pray that Mr. SBY, Ketum AHY, and Mr. Surya Paloh, are always in good health, and continue to give their best contribution to the community, nation and country," added Herzaky.

Previously, Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono visited the NasDem Tower on March 29 and held a closed-door meeting for two hours. After holding the meeting, he said that the Democrats and NasDem had the opportunity to form a coalition in the 2024 election.

Moreover, these two parties have the same desire to succeed by increasing their number of seats at the legislative level. "Actually, there are lots of opportunities and options to form a coalition with each other," AHY told reporters, Tuesday, March 29.

He admitted that the closed meeting was dynamic. Democrats and NasDem, AHY said, have the same vision and mission related to the 2024 election, so the opportunity to work together is wide open.

However, AHY emphasized that the two parties still had to carry out discussions. Moreover, the election stage is still far away.

"NasDem opens opportunities, Democrats open opportunities. But, as we said, yes there is a timeline that we must follow together. Right now it is still early 2022, we will continue to follow it," he stressed.

"What is clear is that we have an agreement that there are indeed many common points compared to the differences, we also have a similar vision and mission, of course there are very open opportunities for coalitions," added AHY.